MERS Watch: Florida Hospital Staff Exposed

Two Florida healthcare workers have developed flu-like symptoms after exposure to the second U.S. case of Middle East coronavirus (MERS).

They, and 18 other healthcare workers at two Orlando hospitals, are being tested for the virus, which can cause serious illness and death, medical officials said at a media conference today.

They were exposed to the patient in the emergency room of Dr. P. Phillips Hospital before it was clear he was at risk for MERS, officials told reporters.

One of the two with symptoms has been admitted to the hospital and the other is in isolation at home. The patient himself, a 44-year-old Saudi Arabian healthcare provider visiting family in the area, has a low-grade fever and a slight cough and remains in isolation at the hospital.

Fifteen of the affected workers were involved in caring for the patient himself, but the other five were exposed when the patient last week accompanied another person to Orlando Regional Medical Center for an unrelated medical procedure.

Meanwhile, a World Health Organization committee on MERS is meeting in Geneva to discuss whether the recent surge in cases in the Middle East makes the virus an international public health emergency.

Results of the discussion are expected tomorrow.

Saudi Arabia, the center of the outbreak, has reported an additional four cases, all of them in the capital, Riyadh, as well as five deaths, four of them involving previously reported cases.

The new report brings the Saudi total to 495 cases and 152 deaths since the virus was first recognized in 2012.

The Saudi health ministry said on its website that three of the new cases are in stable condition, but the fourth -- a 69-year-old man initially admitted to the hospital for heart disease -- developed respiratory symptoms on May 11 and died a day later.

On the other hand, the ministry said that six people diagnosed with the virus have recovered and been discharged from hospital.

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